How to Improve Employee Engagement in Workplace | An AU Guide
Written by: Dion Kramer| Founder & Chief Executive Officer | LinkedIn
Employee engagement remains one of the most discussed metrics in Australian boardrooms — yet engagement levels remain critically low. Only 16%[1] of Australian employees report being fully engaged at work. At the same time, burnout affects up to 80% of workers[2], and mental health conditions account for 12% of serious workers’ compensation claims[3].
Employee engagement is not failing because organisations lack surveys or culture initiatives. It is weakening because daily employee experience is under strain.
Improving employee engagement requires improving the systems, leadership quality, workflow design, and wellbeing structures that shape how employees experience work every day.
What Is Employee Engagement — And What Is Employee Experience?
Employee engagement refers to the emotional and psychological commitment employees feel toward their organisation and work. Engaged employees are motivated, focused, and willing to go beyond minimum expectations.
Employee experience, on the other hand, is the sum of everything employees encounter at work — leadership style, communication, workload, flexibility, benefits, wellbeing support, workplace culture, and daily systems.
In simple terms:
- Employee experience is the cause
- Employee engagement is the effect
Why Employee Experience Drives Employee Engagement
Research shows that 73% of Australian HR leaders[4] recognise employee experience as central to engagement, reinforcing that how employees experience work directly influences how they perform, collaborate, and represent the organisation.
| Employee Experience Factor | Immediate Impact | Long-Term Business Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership quality | Clarity, trust, psychological safety | Higher engagement & retention |
| Workflow efficiency | Reduced frustration & meeting fatigue | Increased productivity |
| Flexibility | Lower stress, improved balance | Sustainable performance |
| Preventive health access | Reduced absenteeism & presenteeism | Workforce stability |
| Visible action on feedback | Stronger trust in leadership | Stronger workplace culture |
How to Improve Employee Experience (EX)
Improving employee experience requires structural focus. Below are 5 priority areas for Australian enterprises.
1. Reduce Everyday Friction With Better Tools and Processes
Inefficient systems and processes are a major hidden drain on employee experience. When employees spend time in unnecessary meetings, duplicate work, or struggle with unclear workflows, frustration and disengagement rise.
Australian workforce research highlights the scale of this issue:
- 76% of Australian[5] employees say meetings are often an ineffective use of their time, with many lacking clear goals, wasting hours that could be spent on productive work.
- A separate survey[6] found that around two-thirds of Australian employees lose nearly three work hours per week in unproductive meetings.
- Broader productivity trends indicate only 47% of Australian employees[7] report feeling frequently productive, suggesting inefficiencies such as excessive coordination and interruptions are taking a toll.
2. Strengthen People Leadership to Improve Daily Experience
Direct managers have one of the strongest influences on how employees experience work day to day. Leadership quality affects clarity, trust, workload balance, psychological safety, and whether employees feel supported or overwhelmed — often more than organisational policies themselves.
Australian research consistently shows a leadership gap:
- People managers[8] are considered to be the most critical factor in employee engagement, yet many are promoted without adequate training in leadership, coaching, or wellbeing support.
- Research from Safe Work Australia[9] highlights that poorly managed work demands and low support from supervisors are key psychosocial risk factors contributing to stress, burnout, and mental health issues in Australian workplaces.
3. Embed Holistic Wellbeing Into the Employee Experience
Overall wellbeing can no longer sit on the sidelines of employee experience. Australian employees are navigating rising cost-of-living pressures, increased workload intensity, and growing mental health strain — all of which directly affect how work is experienced day to day.
Australian data highlights the scale of the challenge:
Why holistic wellbeing matters
Mental health does not exist in isolation. Chronic physical pain, untreated health issues, including poor oral health, and financial stress significantly increase psychological strain. 2,504 research articles and 16 studies[10] show a clear association between poor oral health and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, particularly where pain, sleep disruption, or cost-related stress are involved.
Embedding holistic wellbeing into employee experience means addressing mental health alongside its underlying drivers, rather than treating symptoms alone.
4. Provide Flexibility That Employees Can Genuinely Use
Flexible work has shifted from a perk to a core expectation. However, flexibility only improves employee experience when it is practical, trusted, and supported by leadership.
Australian workforce insights show:
- In a survey conducted by Robert Half[11] with 1,000 Australian employees, almost 39% of them said flexible work is important to their decision to stay with an employer.
- With 11% of Australian organisations adopting a 4-day work week, resignations have fallen by 8.6%, sick leave by 44%, and 54% of employees report better work ability[12].
5. Act on Employee Feedback — and Be Seen to Act
Listening to employees is a foundational element of employee experience, but feedback alone does not create change. Employees judge experience by what happens after they speak up. Research shows[13] that two-thirds of employees believe their organisations fall short in effectively responding to survey results.
Case Study: Programmed’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Initiative[14]
Programmed rolled out a structured mental health and wellbeing programme across its 26,000-strong workforce. The company trained more than 450 leaders and managers to recognise better and respond to mental health challenges at work. As a result, awareness of mental health issues improved, managers reported greater confidence in supporting teams, and utilisation of employee support services increased. By embedding mental health capability into leadership practice — rather than treating it as a standalone initiative — Programmed strengthened employee experience and contributed to a more supportive workplace culture.
How to Boost Employee Engagement in Office and Remote Teams
Employee engagement does not depend on location. Whether employees work onsite, remotely, or in hybrid environments, the core drivers of engagement remain consistent: clarity, focus, recognition, support, and strong social connection.
1. Establish Clear Communication Rhythms
Research consistently shows that employees who receive regular manager check-ins and clear goal alignment report higher levels of engagement and trust. In distributed environments, communication gaps widen quickly, leading to ambiguity and reduced accountability.
Clear communication rhythms — weekly one-on-ones, structured team updates, transparent leadership messaging — reduce uncertainty and strengthen psychological safety. This stability directly improves employee engagement across remote and in-office teams.
2. Increase Visibility of Impact
In physical offices, employees often see the downstream effects of their work through conversations and informal interactions. Remote employees can lose that line of sight.
Engagement improves when employees clearly understand how their work contributes to business outcomes. Leaders should regularly communicate project outcomes, customer wins, and performance progress — especially in distributed teams.
3. Create Intentional Social Connection
One of the biggest engagement risks in remote work is social disconnection. Workplace research consistently shows that belonging and peer relationships are strong predictors of employee engagement. Hybrid environments require deliberate social design — structured team touchpoints, cross-functional collaboration opportunities, and occasional in-person connection where possible.
4. Provide Growth Visibility
Career progression feels clearer in office environments, where informal mentorship and leadership exposure happen naturally. In remote settings, organisations must formalise development pathways. Transparent promotion criteria, regular career conversations, and access to skill-building opportunities are essential.
5. Recognise Contributions Publicly and Frequently
Recognition is one of the strongest predictors of engagement — regardless of location. Employees who feel valued are more likely to demonstrate discretionary effort and remain loyal to their organisation. In hybrid and remote settings, recognition must be intentional. Informal office appreciation no longer happens organically. Public acknowledgment in team meetings, digital recognition tools, and peer-nominated awards help maintain emotional connection and reinforce workplace culture.
6. Maintain Access to Health and Preventive Support
Health-related disruption is a growing risk to employee engagement. Burnout, untreated health issues, and financial stress reduce focus and resilience. In Australia, poor oral health alone contributes an estimated $8.7 billion dollar annually in lost productivity — largely through absenteeism and employees working while in pain.
Employees are vulnerable to delaying preventive care due to time, cost, or isolation from workplace health initiatives. Ensuring access to preventive health benefits, including employer-paid dental cover, reduces unexpected disruptions, financial strain, and performance decline.
When health access is embedded into employee experience design, engagement stabilises because employees are not distracted by avoidable stressors.
U.S. Example: Employer-Paid Dental Cover[15]
Starbucks provides comprehensive employer-paid dental cover to eligible employees and their families, including part-time staff working 20 hours per week. By extending benefits beyond full-time roles, the company strengthened access to preventive care across a large retail workforce.
By prioritising oral health as a pillar of their "Your Special Blend" benefits package, the company successfully fostered a culture of loyalty that resulted in a turnover rate roughly half the industry average for food service. This investment in employee well-being turned dental care from a standard perk into a strong retention tool, boosting engagement and saving the company millions in recruitment and training costs each year.
Where Does Dental Cover Fit in Designing Employee Experience
In Australia, more than two-thirds of adults delay or avoid dental care, often due to cost or access barriers — a pattern that doesn’t just affect oral health but everyday work performance. When preventable dental issues are ignored, they escalate into pain, discomfort, and emergencies that disrupt employees’ daily focus and productivity.
Unmanaged oral health results in an average of 17.4 lost productive days per employee per year, contributing to approximately $8,452 in annual productivity loss per employee across organisations. These losses are largely driven by employees working while in pain (presenteeism) or taking unplanned leave for treatment — both of which erode engagement and performance over time.
Importantly, access to employer-paid dental cover changes behaviour. Employees with dental cover are over 186% more likely to attend preventive dental visits than those without, meaning issues are caught earlier, treatment is simpler, and costly disruptions are reduced.
Conclusion
Improving employee engagement starts with strengthening employee experience at its core. Engagement is not a programme to implement — it is a condition to design. Organisations that treat employee experience as operational infrastructure, not as a culture initiative, are better positioned to protect productivity and strengthen workplace culture.
Curious to see how enterprise dental cover fits in your employee engagement strategy?
FAQs
Q. What is the difference between employee engagement and employee experience?
A: Employee engagement is the emotional commitment employees feel toward their work. Employee experience is the daily reality of work — leadership, systems, benefits, and workplace culture — that drives engagement.
Q. How does employee experience improve employee engagement?
A: Employee experience improves employee engagement by reducing stress, friction, and uncertainty at work. When daily systems and support are strong, engagement increases naturally.
Q. Why is employee engagement low in Australia?
A: Only 16% of Australian employees are fully engaged, with burnout and leadership gaps as major contributors. Inefficient workflows and untreated health issues also weaken engagement.
Q. How can organisations improve employee engagement?
A: Focus on leadership capability, workflow efficiency, flexibility, and holistic wellbeing. Employee engagement improves when everyday work feels stable and supported.
Q. How does dental cover support employee engagement?
A: Dental cover reduces absenteeism, presenteeism, and financial stress from untreated oral health issues. Preventive access helps employees stay focused, healthier, and more engaged at work.
References
- 1. Australia Workforce Engagement Drops to 16% Link
- 2. 4 in 5 workers say they feel burnout Link
- 3. Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025 Link
- 4. The Crucial Difference Between Employee Engagement & Employee Experience Link
- 5. Australian meetings slammed as ineffective 76% of the time Link
- 6. Aussie Workers Have Already Lost 2 Weeks in 2025 to Pointless Meetings Link
- 7. Workplace productivity in Australia declines to 47% as burnout rises Link
- 8. The Ultimate Australian Employee Engagement Guide Link
- 9. Managing psychosocial hazards at work Link
- 10. Depression Symptoms Linked to Multiple Oral Health Outcomes in US Adults Link
- 11. More than 1 in 3 Australians would leave employer not offering flexibility Link
- 12. The four-day work week Link
- 13. Why Employees Say They’re “Fine” in Surveys Link
- 14. Workplace wellbeing - Mental health in the workplace Australia Link
- 15. Starbucks careers Link
